


You goat tibia kidding me

by gaylie



Series: You Goat Tibia Kidding Me [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, Eventual relationship, F/F, F/M, Genderless Chara, Genderless Frisk, PERHAPS (probably) smut eventually, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader has female parts, Slow Burn, Suicide mentions, but im trying to make it super slow, genderless reader, like rly slow probably, maybe also not bc i dont have THAT much planned for this fic, probably...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-06-07 00:58:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6778513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylie/pseuds/gaylie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Climbing on the peak of Mt. Ebott you didn't exactly expect a lot, but you surely didn't expect a voice coming from behind a wall, speaking to you. Let alone such a sweet, sweet voice that you would soon learn to love, together with all it's quirks and habits and eventually also it's friends and family.</p><p>Partially based on the Queen Toriel Neutral End.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Miserable Rock of Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yepyep, looks like i'm juggling 4 fics at once now. and a reader/sans fic??? wow! didn't think i would actually end up writing one of these. who's gonna bet with me it'll get, like, a shitton of attention compared to my other fics?  
> but yea, i'm a HUGE sucker for sans/reader so i might as well do my one  
> although it is a lot more than just that i suppose  
> honestly, i haven't even planned all of it (most of it) out yet, only the rough first part of the story, but i'm absolutely fucking stoked about it  
> literally came up with it today and i'm super proud? because i wanted something that strays off from the regular sans/reader fics, which mostly seem to be "monsters have been on the surface for 3 years" or "you fell into the underground with/instead of/as frisk" and i don't think those are bad at all or anything? no way, i'm reading the shit outta them after all, but i wanted to try something new so  
> here we go  
> have fun

This is stupid, you thought, as you climbed over the fence, ignoring any warning signs. This is probably just some bullshit tale someone made up and somehow just spread. As if anyone would actually be disappearing on a shitty mountain.

Yet, here you were, climbing Mt. Ebott while silently calling this whole idea as well as yourself stupid. You should've just stayed home, wallowing in self-loath and -pity. Or, well, found a more convenient way to end your life. One that was not as chicken as climbing a mountain on which people apparently _magically_ disappeared and never came back again.

Yea, right. "I'll tell ya why no one ever comes back from here," you grumbled under your breath, using hands and feet to climb a steeper part of the mountain. You weren't even sure where you were heading to, you just wanted to go up. "It's because no one ever _comes_ here in first place, god damn it!"

You weren't sure why you were so angry. This _had_ been your idea after all. Well, you most likely were angry with yourself, so that's fair, you guessed. This was such a stupid idea, and you knew exactly where it sprouted from. Sure, you wanted to end your life. Like, fuck, it physically hurt to just exist and you fucking _wanted it to stop._ But you didn't exactly... want to kill yourself. If that makes any sense. You just wanted to stop existing. And that's what the mountain is supposed to do, right?

Bullshit.

Well, if you actually got high enough on this miserable rock of lies, you could maybe throw yourself off the cliff. Not that you actually would. You were too scared of actually dying, but the thought that you could somehow set you at ease. It probably shouldn't, that was damn fucked up, but it did anyways.

You spotted several holes here and there, leading down deeper than you could ever imagine, and you started wondering if maybe people actually _did_ tend to disappear here. Just not in the weird, magical way as you suspected, but, well. Just fell down the holes and died. No one would ever find anyone _there._

The thought actually sent a shock of fear down your spine and you considered going back down. But you were hardly sure if you _could_ get back down. Climbing up was one thing, climbing down required... not necesserally seeing where you'll step next. Besides, you had already come so far. The tip was in view and you would probably get there within an hour or so, if you kept climbing.

Your stomach growled, but you hadn't brought anything to eat with you. Why would you? You were trying to end your life here, not have a pleasant hike. Your throat was fairly dry, too, but you hardly even noticed. You had the bad habit of just... forgetting to drink for longer periods of times. People told you to be more careful, that it's unhealthy, but you didn't really care a lot. Not enough to go out of your way to actually drink more.

But climbing a mountain, sure, _that_ was fine.

"That isn't even the least connected," you scolded yourself, or rather your head. You wondered briefly, if you would start taking more care of yourself if you srurvived this whole act. Probably not, hah.

You continued climbing after a little break, and only stopped again once you passed another one of those holes. This time curiousity got the better of you, and ignoring the rational fear, you carefully made your way to the hole, peeking down. For some reason you expected to see corpses, maybe skeletons. Or, well, ground. You didn't though. The hole just seemed to go on endlessly, vanishing in a deep black that almost looked more like _nothingness_ , rather than darkness. It sent a shiver down your spine, and you quickly decided to keep on climbing.

It had, in fact, taken you more than an hour to get on top of the mountain, although that was probably because you were slouching, tiredly and exhausted, not even sure why you bothered to keep on going. On a good note, you found a natural pathway spiralling almost the whole way up the mountain from the foot of it. So, once you most likely took the hardest way to clim 3/4 of the mountain you finally decided to walk on the pathway instead.

It wasn't made for walking, it hadn't actually been _build_ or anything, after all. Or at least you didn't assume so, considering Mt. Ebott was forbidden and blocket off for civilians. Maybe they had made a pathway up the mountain many years ago, and this was what was left of it. Either way, it was fairly rocky, with quite a few gaps and parts that looked like they could easily crumble off and throw you into your certain death.

Part of you wished it would.

But knowing your luck, it wouldn't. And it didn't.

When you finally reached the top of the mountain, the sun was already setting, burying you in a deep red shade. It was beautiful, but you couldn't actually enjoy the view. The knowledge of why you were here, why you had come up here, was still apparent and strong enough to ruin your entire mood. And who's wouldn't it ruin? It wasn't like the decision to end your life was one to take lightly.

There was a small cave that offered shelter from the wind, and you decided to crawl into it, sitting with your back at the far end wall of it. It wasn't comfortable, but you could sit and it was a little warmer. You also still had a fairly good view on the sky. Not that it mattered, really.

You decided, for now, to just sit there and... wait. You weren't sure for what. For the mountain to let you magically disappear after all? For something in your head to go click and either make you jump or walk back down and go home? You knew exactly it would be the latter choice. It always had been. You'd never actually had the guts to end your life.

You still couldn't decide whether that was for the better or worse, but right now it felt like it was for the worst.

 

 

You weren't sure if you had dozed off or just spaced out, but when you snapped back to reality, you couldn't remember what you had been thinking about, or if you had been thinking at all. You wondered what exactly had suddenly brought you back, but that thought got interrupted by a deep, yet very female and soft voice.

"Even at night the light seems to shine through so beautifully," they mused, sounding very, _very_ close to you.

You jumped away from the wall, screaming, spinning around in some weird, entirely made up karate-pose. But there was no one behind you. Obviously, there was just the wall.

"Goodness! Oh no, is someone there?" The voice asked. They sounded a little muffled, like they were speaking through a bag or a glass wall, but not enough for you to not notice the shock in their voice.

"U-u-uhm? Hello?" You asked carefully, looking around in every direction, despite being _very_ sure the voice came from the direction of the wall. But... how was that _possible?_ Was there a second cave behind the wall?

"My, oh my," the voice hummed regretfully, "sounds like there certainly is someone here. I am so sorry, I must've frightened you, must I not?"

"Yes...? I- who- _where_ are you?" You stepped closer to the wall, brow furrowing. You gave a few light knocks on the rock, not hearing any kind of echo indicating that there was a hollow room behind it.

"Well, I must say that is a very difficult question," they mused and you decided that, yes, the voice _was_ coming from at _least_ the direction of the wall. They sounded the loudest here, the clearest, if yet not entirely clear. You decided to sit back down with your back towards it.

"Uhm. Okay," you muttered awkwardly. "Okay, but, like. Are you stuck? Should I... Should I, uh, get help?"

You could hear a faint laugh coming from behind the wall, but it didn't actually sound amused. Kind of... sad.

"I suppose I am stuck," they muttered weakly. "I do doubt though that you will be able to help us. But I appreciate the offer."  
Oh, that just made you sad. Us? Were there more people stuck... behind the wall... or whatever?

"Are you sure? I have a phone with me," you pointed out, grabbing into the pockets of your hoodie. Ah, that's right. You left your phone at home. "Actually I don't, but I could probably go and get it. I could call the police or so."  
The voice seemed to think that over, humming silently as they didn't talk. Eventually, though, they seemed to let out a long, regretful sigh.

"That will not do us any good. If any... _police_ could have helped us, we were probably out already."  
That made you wonder how long they had been stuck there. But that wasn't important right now.

"Are you, uh... are you going to be... alright?" You asked a little worried. You weren't exactly the most sympathetic person, but the thought of someone being stuck in this mountain made even _you_ realize that that was probably very fucking bad.

Was this where people supposedly disappeared to on this mountain?

"Don't worry about us, child," they said, and the way they called you child felt so, _so_ heart warming. You gave a light chuckle.

"I'm not a child, m-miss....?" The last part was more of a question, not knowing whether the person behind the wall was a woman or a man or anything outside of that, but the voice sounded fairly feminine to you. They didn't seem to correct you, so you assumed you were right.

"I am very sorry, my dear. It is quite the habit of mine," she laughed, but this time it sounded warm and heartful, rather than sad. "I suppose I am quite the mother hen."

You smiled at that.

"Well, it's alright, I suppose." You were still fairly young after all. You still didn't feel quite comfortable calling yourself an adult, but you were getting there.

"Now, my chi- _dear_ , may I ask why you're here? In my experience, people hardly ever come to this place."  
Now _that_ was a question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i  
> fucking  
> love???  
> toriel


	2. It's like you climbed a mountain or something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW, way less hits than i expected, but not like i'm dissappointed! just surprised. thought anything that had sans/reader in it immediately got, like, a shitton of hits  
> eh, fair tho!  
> i hope those who _do_ read my fic do enjoy it so far! (this chapter's lame, sorry) it's my first rader-insert fic so i'm sorry if it's awful  
>  i do appreciate comments by the way! i am just really awful at answering (almost mistyped as sanswering) them, because I get extremely happy and excited about comments and then i can never really show in words how much i love your comments??? and kinda get anxious that my answer isn't doing it any justice????? and then i just? don't answer?  
> it's dumb, but anyways! i really frickin love comments, they absolutely make my day

You gave an awkward chuckle, scratching the back of your neck, despite her not being able to see the gesture. _Well_ , you were actually glad about that, she probably already could sense enough nervousness in your voice anyways.

"That's, uh, kind of a long story," you admitted. "One I don't actually like getting into that much." You still weren't so sure why you were here yourself. You wanted to end your life, yes, but why? You had just felt so... horribly _bad_ for _months._ Or was it years already? God, you couldn't even tell anymore. It wasn't even _justified._ It wasn't like anything bad happened to you. Yet, at the same time, _everything_ bad seemed to happen to you. Small things, all the time. Things that would for anyone else be probably just annoying at most, but to you, in your mental state, they were just so agonizingly frustrating, pushing you farther on the egde you already were on.

But was that enough to kill yourself for? No. The shit that kept happening to you was frustrating, annoying, awful, yes. But the worst was just this... _feeling_. This strong, _violent_ feeling that told you that you did not want to live. You just didn't. And fighting it made it seem _so much_ stronger.

"Oh, I am sorry, my child," the voice muttered sweetly and regretful, and you couldn't actually feel mad at her. She also seemed to forget that she didn't want to call you child anymore, but, well, you _did_ tell her it's fine. And it was, really. "I did not mean to intrude any private matters. You hardly know me after all!" She laughed a little, which surprised you, but then cleared her voice, continuing. "My name is Toriel."  
You provided her your name, feeling content as you heard her compliment it.

"Toriel is a far more beautiful name, though," you said, smiling at the... wall. Wow. Awkward. "It sounds really foreign. Where are you from?"

There was a pause where the other person seemed to contemplate over whether to answer or not, and for a moment you wondered if your question might've been rude or racist. But when she spoke again, Toriel didn't actually sound upset with you.

"I don't think I would be able to tell you that truthfully," she admitted, letting you in the dark. But you didn't really mind. You didn't want to tell her things about yourself and she didn't want to tell you things about herself. Guess this was fair. Besides, you literally just met.

"It is getting quite late, is it not?" Toriel eventually asked, and you had to agree to that. The sun had already long appeared and it was fairly dark. You wondered if it was safe to climb Mt. Ebott back down like that and decided that, no, it was most certainly not. But you didn't care too much either. Besides, you brought a flashlight apparently.

"Yea, I should probably get going," you admitted, but you didn't actually want to leave. It was nice up here. It felt Serene. Ironical kind of safe, for a mountain that made people disappear.

"Yes, I do need to get back to my duty as well," Toriel replied and you felt a pang of guilt build up in your body.

"Did I keep you from work? Oh man, I'm really sorry," you shot out, but Toriel merely laughed.

"Don't worry about it, my child. I came here on my own terms, you are not to blame," she hummed, but you couldn't help but to still kind of feel bad. "Besides it was very nice talking to you."  
"Yea, gotta agree there," you replied, a bit more at ease again. But only for the moment. As soon as you realized you both had places to go, you felt your heart sink again. "So... I guess this is goodbye then?"  
"Mhm, I suppose so. Stay safe, my child,” she said, and despite barely knowing her, you felt yourself wishing you could hug her goodbye.

“Yea…,” you muttered instead. “You too.”

 

 

Unlike you predicted, climbing the mountain back down went a lot faster than up. Then again, you actually used the pathway to get down, and the flashlights showed you any gaps and cracks, so you came to the foot of it in one piece.

It was weird. You almost weren't upset about that.  _Almost._ Part of you still wished you would've ended your life back up there. Sure, you felt better now. You did. Despite how weird the situation was, speaking to Toriel had been… nice. She was a really nice lady. But you  _knew_ that you would feel awful again soon.

Soon came sooner than expected, because the moment you climbed over the fence again, you realized, that climbing to the peak of Mt. Ebott wasn't exactly a thing you would just do for fun every once in a while. It wasn't even  _legal,_ for fucks sake. Which meant that you most likely wouldn't be able to talk to Toriel again.

_ Is she safe there? _ You wondered. She had told you she was going to be all right, and that calling for help wouldn't to her or anyone any good. You decided to trust her on that, after all, she had to know the best. And besides, she sounded very wise, a lot wiser than you. But you  _ still _ couldn't help but to worry and feel low-key guilty about just leaving her like that. 

Was it right? To know there is a group of people stuck in a mountain and just leave? Not do anything about it? Even  _ if  _ she told you they were gonna be fine, wasn't it still somewhere… wrong?  Well, what  _ were _ you supposed to do? If you told any police, they probably wouldn't even believe you. Heck, you barely believed it yourself.

S tanding at the end of the forest in front of the streets, you remembered that you had originally come with the bus. You didn't own a car after all. You  _ also _ remembered that, judging by the moon, it was past midnight and there was no way any buses still drove here.

“Shit,” you cursed, and suddenly wished you had decided to just stay at the peak of that mountain. Well, now you were gonna walk. Man, it was a miracle you didn't feel like falling apart already, considering you climbed a fucking mountain.

By the time you finally reached the block where your apartment was, the sun was slowly coming up, and you briefly thought that you most likely wouldn't get more than maybe an hour of sleep, before you had to work. And  _ now _ you did feel like falling apart. Maybe the sheer knowledge of that you still had to get home somehow kept your body moving. 

You slumped into your bed the second you got the chance, trusting that your alarm was still set, and immediately fell asleep. As you predicted, only for an hour. But it didn't really matter. Most of the times you felt more rested with an hour of sleep, than with eight hours. Anything in-between was the worst, you would just feel like a walking corpse then. But one hour was just fine.

When you threw your fist on the alarm clock, it showed that it was 7:15 am. The usual time you'd get up, and you moved yourself heavily out of the bed. Your body ached from yesterdays 'hike', and you all but were absolutely _not_ ready for work today. But, oh well, someone's gotta pay the rent.

You'd have 45 minutes until you would head out to catch your bus, and then half an hour to get to your job at 8:30. It was enough time, but not too much, but now you wished you could just sleep longer.

Yet, you knew you couldn't and begrudgingly made your way through your apartment to take a quick shower, pick out some clothes, maybe shove a quick breakfast in your face. The usual routine, except slower and more slouched, because you felt like you had climbed a mountain on the day before. _Haha._ You ended up not having enough time for breakfast, and instead made a quick sandwich to eat on your way or in the bus.

Running to the bus station, you had almost missed the bus, but apparently the driver recognized you and stopped. After thanking him for, like, five times, and showing your bus ticket, you got yourself an empty seat, placing your bag on the one next to you. The bag wasn't heavy, but you just _really_ didn't like strangers sitting next to you.

Trying to cherish the bit of time you had left in the bus, before having to work, you slowly munched on your sandwich. Much to the disdain of the bus driver, though, who seemed to keep glaring at you with every chance he got. Well, there _was_ a sign somewhere that told you not to eat in the bus. But hell! You had to eat _something._

The bus drive ended quicker than expected, and before you knew it you found yourself in front of the little coffee shop, sighing. It wasn't a bad job per-say, but it was still a _job._ Which meant working. And damn you really didn't want to work today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope u dont mind that the chapters r so short  
> i personally prefer writing shorter chapters on fics i dont have a regular schedule on, like this one, so i can still update rather frequently  
> i'm writing 4 fics at once so i can't always put too much effort into every single one of them, and my "Back when they were still on the Surface" fic is my first priority rn


	3. Pretty cool Movie Plot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! finally got THAT chapter finished. so here's some things i wanted to get off my chest  
> 1\. i feel suddenly rly bad for making reader work at a coffee shop bc its super lame and cliche which i didnt even REALIZE when i decided that. it was just the first thing that came to my mind? im really boring and also have no experience at jobs bc im a student and also never leave the house to gather basic human life experiences. im gonna die once i get thrown into adult life tbh  
> 2\. english isn't my first language by the way, it's german, and let me tell you: we literally never learned how to place commas in english grammar??? like i've had english class for 11 years and we just NEVER learned it. so, excuse my awful fucking grammar.  
> 3\. im literally using this fic to dump as many headcanons and ideas into it as possible, bc i want to use them all and this is the only fic where i can, hah. so the tags might change from time to time. i really would love to add asriel, but i also want flowey :c guess we can't always have everything. 
> 
> anyways, i hope this chapter isnt as awful as it looks to me

Your work-shift ended the same way as it started: Hectic and stressful. It was weekend, Saturday, after all, and the coffee shop you worked at was one of those that younger people liked to hang out at a lot. You were more than relieved when your boss finally told you to clock out.

Ready to rush out and make your way home, you stopped when you heard a voice calling out your name. You knew the voice, so you weren't scared, but still not exactly excited about it. Turning around you spotted Scarlet making her way towards you, waving.

“Heeeey…,” you called back, the lack of enthusiasm running completely past the girl now before you. You couldn't say you hated Scarlet, or even disliked her, really, it was just that she was far too extroverted for you. It was simply exhausting and kind of annoying at times.

"Oh man, it's been so long!" One week. "We seriously need to catch up. Do you have time today? It's just 16 PM, I don't have to head to work until 18."

Oh, how you wanted to tell her you're busy. You were still tired and exhausted and really just wanted to let yourself fall onto the soft and warm bed in your messy apartment and sleep for the rest of the day. But sighing you gave in and shrugged.

"Sure, I'm free," you muttered. "You wanna, uh, get a coffee or so?"

And so you headed back into the coffee shop you literally just left, but this time together with Scarlet. Well, while annoying and exhausting, her enthusiasm _was_ somewhat uplifting, and maybe that's what you needed right now.

"So, how are things?" You asked as you walked past your confused co-workers and sat down on one of the tables with your friend. As Scarlet began talking you almost cursed yourself, knowing well that she wouldn't be able to be stopped now.

There wasn't actually anything new or exciting in her life happening right now, but Scarlet always found a way to make a story out of the most mundane things, and she would tell you about all of them. A few days ago she brought her cat to the vet and she talked for minutes about how great and brave her cat had acted there. She told you her boyfriend was coming over this weekend, like every other weekend, and they were planning to go on a date or so. Her mother had sent her the diary she had written back when she was 13 and apparently it was 'soooo embarrassing!' But also very cute and funny to dig into what her problems at that age had been.

It was nice to spend some time with Scarlet again, you decided. It was nice to just sit there and talk a bit and it distracted you from feeling miserable like you probably would if you were just lying at home, sleeping. Or, well, trying to sleep. It gave you a break from your depression, or at least until you brought your own track of mind back there. Oh, great job. But maybe you could get something off your mind that had been troubling you.

"Hey Scarlet?" You asked, breaking in to her monologue, but she never minded. After all, if you wouldn't, she probably wouldn't stop on her own. "So, quite hypothetically, if I were to, uhm... hear a voice behind a wall? Like, the wall at the back of a cave, and the voice told me they were trapped, together with, like, more people, but they told me not to call the police? Would that me... I 'dunno, ethically right? To not call the police...?" You described, with a hint of a question after every statement. "Would it be ok to just leave them be? Even if they told me to?"

"What the heck are you talking about!" She boomed out without a moment of hesitation, laughing a little. "Did you watch a new movie or something?! It sounds cool, what's it called?"

"Uh... I don't remember the title," you lied quickly.

"Wow! Well, if I would hear that voice I would probably go to a doctor or something! Hearing voices doesn't sound healthy, hah."

Oh.

"What?" You retorted, feeling a little defensive. "No, but, like, what if the voice is real?"

"Seriously? A person trapped in some cave?! Let alone a group! Come on," she said, a laugh still in her voice. She never took things serious. "Someone would've noticed! I mean if just several people went missing, people would miss them, right? The police would already know!"

"Right...," you muttered, not really convinced. But she was right actually. If a group of people just got trapped in a cave, someone'd miss them. The police would know. The press would know. People would've probably heard.

Had Toriel been lying? As in, was she alone? But why should she lie to you? She didn't even directly say they were several people, she just kept using "we." It didn't sound like a lie. So, were you crazy?

"It's been really nice to catch up with you!" Scarlet suddenly threw in again, making you snap out of your thoughts. "I gotta rush to work now, sorry! If you remember the title of that movie you gotta tell me, right? Sounds really interesting!"

You told her you will, but knew you wouldn't, and together you left the coffee shop, splitting paths once outside. It was extraordinary quiet once you were alone again, and maybe you wished now you weren't, but also you were kind of glad. Finally some time to relax, right? You headed home.

 

 

You haven't been home for even a whole ten minutes. You just quickly changed clothes, grabbed a back and packed some things. Food, water, a flashlight. It didn't look like it was going to rain, so you decided to pass on the umbrella. Besides, you had made it just fine without even food or water last time you climbed Mt. Ebott, so you were going to be fine.

You still didn't own a car, and you weren't going to within the next few months most likely, so you drove to the mountain side by bus again. The bus driver didn't recognize you, but why should they? It's not like you drove there every day. The drive took around ten or maybe twenty minutes, and you were almost sad to have to get up. Oh hell, you were just really lazy.

Once you stepped out of the bus and waited for everyone that got out with you to leave out of eyesight, you made your way to the fence in the forest, surrounding the area around Mt. Ebott. There weren't really any surveillance cameras since no one actually assumed anyone would go there, or really cared for that matter, so it really wasn't too hard to just climb over the fence. And once you were past _that_ you made sure to take the pathway up the mountain this time, rather than to climb for hours again. It still took you around an hour or two to get up there though, but definitely less than last time.

When you arrived at the top it was still fairly bright, but the sun would be setting soon. You got into the cave and sat down at the same spot as always and… wow. Wow, what would you do now? Should you say something? You didn't want to. You felt kind of crazy just talking to… no one. Who knew if she even was on the other side right now? With your luck probably not. Did she even come here every day? Wow. Wow! This had been a stupid fucking idea, what were you thinking?  
“Hello?”  
You let out an audible sigh. That was her, that was Toriel. Had she heard you coming?  
“Hi! Hello,” you blurted out a bit too excited, but you were just so relieved she was actually here and you hadn't made your entire way up here for no reason.

“Oh dear! Is that you, ____?” She asked, sounding awfully surprised. You didn't blame her.

“Hehe, yea,” you admitted bashfully. “Uh, it was a… nice day for a hike.”  
“My child, why are you here?” Toriel asked immediately, sounding somewhat stern but mostly worried.  
“Wow,” you huffed, “rude. Not even a hello.”

“Oh, I apologize. But it is really not normal for humans to come here!” She didn't seem to be planning to talk around it this time. “Let alone twice in a row. Mustn't that be dangerous?”  
You shrugged, despite her not being able to see it. “Maybe. I was… worried, honestly.”

“Oh dear! About a silly old lady like my? You really don't have to worry about me, my child,” Toriel assured you. “I have lived here for many, many years. I have lived _alone_ for many years, too. Rest assured that I know how to take care of myself.”  
“Well I- ...I mean, I don't doubt that,” you admitted. “Uh, geez, it was silly to come again, wasn't it?”  
“In all honesty? Yes, my child. You shouldn't risk yourself for some stranger trapped in a cave.”  


A little awkwardly you wrung your hands, clearing your voice a bit. “Uh, what, though, if I maybe wanted to talk to you again?” You asked, surprising yourself a bit. Oh, well, it was true. You _had_ been wanting to talk to her again. Toriel had literally been on your mind since the moment you left yesterday, and not just because she was literally trapped in a mountain.  
“Don't be silly! Why would you want to talk to some stranger so much, that you would get here for that?” Toriel asked, sounding surprised. You weren't sure what to say to that. You weren't sure why yourself. Sure, Toriel seemed nice, but you literally climbed a mountain for several hours. And if someone would ask you right now, you'd probably say that you would do it again. You couldn't pinpoint why.

“Heck, you're trapped behind a wall!” You blurted out. “I mean, that's pretty interesting right? Yes. You seem, uh. Pretty interesting. Wow that was rude wasn't it? Sorry, wow.”  
You frowned at yourself. _Why_ would that _ever_ be an appropriate answer? But Toriel didn't seem to take you serious and laughed a little. You sighed in relief.

“Don't worry about it, child. I suppose if I met someone trapped in a cave I would want to know more, too.” She muttered gently. “Although, there is not much interesting I can tell you about.”  
“Nonsense!” You protested immediately. “Just… tell me how you live? I guess? Like, where do you get food? You said there were others, right? How many? Do you have like a small village?”  
“A kingdom, actually,” Toriel interrupted you and you froze for a moment. A _kingdom?_ Weren't that, like, _several_ towns? That must be _thousands_ of people!  
“You're joking!” You gasped eventually. “No way there's so many people there! I mean, a village would be a lot! But a whole _kingdom?_ ”  
“Oh, well I suppose it is a small kingdom…,” Toriel continued thoughtfully. She didn't sound like she was telling you lies, but _how_ was that possible? “We have a couple of small towns. Very small, I must admit though. The capital is fairly large.”  
“How large are we speaking of here.”  
“Around 12 million in the capital. The villages are very small, so they don't actually make a big difference on the number,” the other listed, sounding suddenly very professional. Damn, she must know those numbers by heart.

“ _Twelve_ million people _trapped_ in a mountain?” You repeated shocked. “How does no one _know_ about this?!”  
“Oh, well,” she sounded suddenly awfully uncomfortable and you kind of worried you had asked something inappropriate or opened some old wounds or so. But Toriel continued anyways. “We have been here for… a _very_ long time. Long enough for your people to… forget.”  
“How…?”  
“We have adapted, my child,” Toriel explained. “We've built towns, cities. We made a kingdom, a society. We survived and our community grew. We're… a lot stronger and more than we were when we first got trapped here.”  
That sounded like they'd _really_ been trapped there for quite the while. Several eras long. Or, well, maybe not _that_ long, but something like that. How was that possible, though? An entire folk just trapped in a mountain? And no one knows about them?

You wanted to ask how exactly they even _had_ gotten trapped down there, but decided not to for now. Maybe another time. Because you were _totally_ coming back another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ao3 messes up the paragraphing sometimes???


	4. Knock Knock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont even have an excuse for not updating in 2 weeks

You still were thinking about all the things Toriel had told you when you were lying in bed at home. But, well, how _couldn't_ you? An entire folk of people just _trapped_ in a mountain? Or underground as Toriel would call it. She had told you a bit about life down there. Not too much, but apparently they had built houses and other things out of the garbage people not-underground threw into… the ocean? Maybe rivers? Some kind of water source. The water gathered in their cave and brought garbage with it. It was sad, honestly, but also kind of fascinating.

You didn't get to talk to her too much though, since she soon suggested you to go back home, as it was getting late. She also apparently had some business to attend to, so you decided to leave for now, but told her you'd come back the next day. She seemed resistant at first, insisting you that you shouldn't waste your day to talk to some 'silly old lady' like her. But you didn't mind at all. It wasn't like you had anything better to do, really. And honestly you were really excited to get to talk to her again, and eventually Toriel gave in, too, and told you she'd find time to talk to you. You hoped it wasn't _you_ who was wasting her time, but she kind of sounded a little excited herself.

Sunday was your day off of work, so you decided to head to the mountain earlier this time in order to get some more time to talk. But as fate wants, you woke up at 1 PM. Which was actually even fairly early for you. Well, on a day off of work at least. You _still_ were kind of disappointed, considering you had actually wanted to maybe head there around 9 or 10 AM.

You decided to pack more this time. A lunch, more to drink, a blanket, just as if you were going on a picnic. Which was kind of your plan. You weren't sure when exactly Toriel planned to show up and decided to stay as long as she had time, so you might as well have a picnic on the peak of a mountain.

By the time you'd gotten yourself ready and packed everything it was already half past 1 PM and by the time you arrived at the bus stop closest to Mt. Ebott it was almost 2 PM. You probably wouldn't arrive at the top before four at this rate, but that was still earlier than any other time you had gone there.

The hike was easier than the first two times. You knew the path a bit better and also were quite determined to reach the top, maybe that's what made the difference. Or maybe you were slowly getting more in shape. Your body still ached from the previous two hikes, but it was easy to ignore, just like all the other things in life that were still bothering you.

You got hungry around half the way up and decided to take a short break to eat a sandwich. You'd left the house without any kind of breakfast, which wasn't unusual to you. You didn't like eating as the first thing in the morning and mostly didn't eat anything until lunch break at work. Hiking without any food in your stomach had worn you a bit down though, so you enjoyed your little break to eat. And after that continued walking.

It was a little after half past 3 PM when you arrived at the top of the mountain. That was actually a fairly good time, you decided. It wasn't that late yet and the sun was still up high. It was a little hot actually, so you didn't spend more time to enjoy the view and instead hid into the cave.

“Hello?” You asked testing, wondering if Toriel was already there. No reply. Well, you had accounted for this. Leaning your back against the wall Toriel had been behind the other two days, you grabbed a book out of your bag and began to read. It wasn't exactly the most interesting book, but you already got pretty far into it and didn't want to stop reading halfway-through. Besides, you didn't really want to go through the hassle of finding a better book right now.

It didn't take too long for you to hear someone knocking against the wall you were leaning behind, followed by Toriels soft voice saying, “knock knock!”  
You perked up immediately. “Hey Toriel!” You said.

There was a short beat of silence. “You're supposed to say 'who's there'!” Toriel chided you, sounding a bit disappointed.   
“Oh,” you said embarrassed, “alright. Who's there?”  
“Old lady!” She answered, immediate and excited again. You could almost hear the smile in her voice. Was she really doing a knock knock joke? You hadn't exactly taken her for the kind, but you also hardly known her. Well, you figured you could humor her a bit.

“Old lady who?” You asked and could already hear the woman on the other side snickering.

“Oh!” She said, obviously having a hard time talking now, as she seemed to be withholding a laugh. “I didn't know you could yodel!”

Oh damn. That one was actually pretty good! Well, better than most of the boring knock knock jokes you had heard. It took a moment to sink in, but once it did, you started laughing. And so did Toriel.

“Nice one,” you admitted. “I'm actually impressed! Didn't take you for a jokester.”

“Believe me, I am!” Toriel answered, still laughing. You pondered, eventually decided to go on and humor your new friend a bit.

“Alright, alright, I got one,” you said. “Knock knock.”  
“Who's there?” Toriel asked curiously. She seemed to really enjoy jokes, because you could hear the giddiness in her voice.

“Juno,” you supplied quickly. You didn't know a lot of jokes, but you could think of one on the spot right now.

“Juno who?” You heard Toriel ask in anticipation.

You smiled, pleased that she didn't seem to know the joke already and went on. “Juno anything but bad jokes?” You finished, feeling proud as you heard Toriel giggle on the other side of the wall.

“I hadn't known you had a heart for jokes, too,” she said, once calmed down from her laughter. You shook your head, despite knowing Toriel won't be able to see it. Habit, you supposed.

“I really don't,” you admitted. “I just caught that one up somewhere. I appreciate hearing a good joke, though.”  
“Oh! That's fortunate, because I know quite a few more,” Toriel told you excited. “But we can get to that later. How are you, my child?”

“I'm good, actually,” you answered. And meant it. You felt actually light. Giddy and excited about talking to Toriel, finding out more about her. You hadn't felt like that in what seemed like ages. It wasn't like you were always blue and down, but you just hadn't had anything in like that actually made you feel that excited before. It was a nice change, for now.

“How about you?” You asked. Toriel hummed thoughtfully before answering, which worried you a bit. It wasn't that much of a hard question after all, at least not usually.  
“I am… _fine_ ,” she said eventually, although it didn't sound even a bit truthful.

“Are you sure? You sound like something might be bugging you,” you pried, hoping she would trust you enough to tell you what was bothering her. Although you could easily understand if not. You hardly knew each other, after all.

“Oh, you do not have to worry about me,” Toriel mused, but it wasn't the kind of answer you had hoped for. It wasn't an answer _at all,_ after all. Usually you would've fixed someone with a stern gaze, letting them know so, but due to obvious complications, that wasn't an option. A tense pause however seemed to do the trick too, because after simply not answering for a short while, Toriel sighed.

“Things are just… complicated won here since the king died.”  
“O-oh…!” You began, immediately regretting to have pried. You didn't mind her telling you about her problems, but you hadn't expected someone to have _died._ Maybe that really wasn't your business.

Then again, she's said it was their _king_ that died, right? So surely Toriel didn't have some sorta personal bond to him and things just really got complicated in a political sense. After all, the king must've probably been a very important person. Was there even someone to replace him?  
You didn't know too much about monarchy, if you were honest. _Was_ the king even important? As far as you knew, the Queen of England wasn't as important as someone might think someone of the title “Queen! would be. So you really weren't sure.

“I'm sorry,” you said eventually, not sure what else to say.

“Don't be,” Toriel replied cutly. “King Asgore had it coming, really. Still, the underground had been relying on him for many years. It is quite the change.”  
There was something bitter in her voice as she talked about the king, but also grief. You weren't so sure anymore that they hadn't known each other personally, but you were pretty certain that it really was time to stop prying in that topic.

“Oh dear-” Toriel suddenly said, and you could hear her moving from her spot.

“Toriel?” You asked confused, as she didn't say anything more for a few seconds. You heard muffled voices from farther away and assumed she must be talking to someone. Well, best just wait, you decided. And were rewarded a few minutes later.

_'Rewarded.'_

“Ah, I'm really sorry, dear, but I have to go,” Toriel said eventually, as she finally came back.

“Oh,” you replied somewhat disappointed. “Alright. Sorry from, uh, keeping you from whatever you were doing.”  
“Oh silly, don't be!” Toriel replied, sounding a lot more cheerful than a few moments before. “I enjoyed it, really. It is nice to spend time a bit differently.”  
“Thank god, because I really enjoyed it too,” you said, sighing. “Hey, do you mind if I come by some time soon again?”  
“Feel welcome to!” She replied sweetly. “But do be careful, yes? I don't want you to get hurt or overwork yourself. You have to climb a mountain to get here, don't you?”  
You scoffed lighthearted. “There's a path leading up here, so don't worry!” You said. “But yea, I'll be careful.”  
“That's good to hear, my child. I really have to get going now,” Toriel replied, and with that the two of you said your goodbye's.

 


End file.
